Relaxrv Podcast

Drove to Pearl River Louisiana. We wanted to hike but because of the flooding we had a hard time finding a place (see the photo for this episode). We drove a half hour to Northlake Nature Center in Mandeville Louisiana. And hiked for 2 and 1/2 hours. A nice park with boardwalks and small trails.The next day we drove to Prichard Alabama to Chickasabogue Park and because we booked it through Passport America we camped there for $9 a night with full hookups.We got set up and the slide started acting up again. The slide has difficulty going out. I remembered we had an issue in Montana with a wire going to the slide controller. So I asked Trish to hit the button to extend the slide while I went to the basement and I wiggled the wire that gets connected to the control panel that says ext (for extend) I wiggled it and as I wiggled it I heard an electronic switch going off inside of that control box and the slide came out.  I had a conversation with myself and reminded myself to take a deep breath and relax and come

We left New Orleans and I wanted to drive across the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway. Why? Well according to the Guinness Book of World Records it is the longest continuous bridge passing over water in the USA (it was the longest in the world but now the Jiaozhou Bay Bridge in China is the longest). Arrived in Lafayette Parish Louisiana and stayed at a Boondockers Welcome host, Lonnie and Antoinette. Wow what a fantastic time we had with these folks and their wonderful friends.  We learned what a Parish is in Louisiana.  They invited us to a cookout with cracklins and gumbo and a crawfish boil the next day.  All of it was fun and delicious!  The next day we joined our host at Little Big Cup for brunch. We had more crackling, a great jambalaya and gumbo and fantastic Creme Brulee French toast.Then we went to the Tabasco Company Factory and Museum tour which was worth the visit. We bought a bottle of their bloody Mary mix for our host. The next day we went to Prairieville in Ascension Parish, Louisiana. Met our won

We arrived in Fairhope Alabama and learned Mardi Gras originated in Mobile in 1703. We went to  a Mardi Gras parade in Mobile Alabama which was our 1st Mardi Gras Parade ever. What a blast. While the downtown is filled with bars, Mobile keeps their festivities kid friendly. While there we visited the Mobile Carnival Museum. We highly advise you to take their free tour, admission was $8. We then went to a 2nd parade in Fairhope, which was much smaller but still fun. We ate at a fantastic Lebanese restaurant in Fairhope called Sage.Then we drove to New Orleans (NOLA). Camped at 3 Oaks and a Pine campground (which we reserved through Passport of America $40/night for full hookups - and there's a membership discount code I can email you which will save you some money towards their membership fee, just let me know). We are 15 minutes away from Bourbon St. We walked to Frenchmen Street and sat at Apple Barrel to listen to Great old jazz music.And we had Beignets at Cafe Du Monde.The next day we took the bus into to

So, I fixed our slide issue (knock wood) and here's a link to the video on how I did it!!! We avoided a tornado and then met fantastic people in Defuniak Springs Florida. We had great times meeting Rose, Marie and George from Montreal, Dan and Jan (and their kids) from Colorado and our hosts Jeff and Leanora !  We found a great used book store Anita's Half & Half. We heard about a wonderful Christmas Light display in Defuniak Springs Fl. We visited Fort Pickens which has a wide history of transformations. We camped at Henderson Beach State Park. Here's an article about Acadia National Park testing a reservation system soon. 

We revisited a Tiki Hut bar in St Petersburg. Then we picked Oranges on Dooley Groves in Ruskin. Stopped by Tarpon Springs and ate at Mamas Greek Cuisine and bought a sponge. In Inverness we saw live music at MC Wine Bar (Twysted Vyne).  And finally found great hiking in Florida at O'Leno State Park and Ichetucknee Springs State Park. Finally we met Sean and Alli who have a RVing YouTube Channel. Here are links to the pics of O'Leno State Park. And a pic of the huge Lemon we saw at Dooley Groves.

Well, I learned I love Rt 27 in Fla, and dislike I-75 ! We had great cinnamon buns at Knaus Berry Farm then drove the northern end of the Florida Keys and found some great parks like Crocodile Lake NWR (which you can not explore) and John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park Pennekamp . The next day we went on a airboat ride at Everglades Holiday Park to see Alligators and I talk about the good and bad of that. The next day we visited Biscayne Bay National Park and visited Everglades National Park. And in Little Havana, Miami we ate at El Cristo restaurant....wow !!!! And there was fantastic music at Cubaocho  and you need to check out el Santo. And we went to Manatee Park where we rented the canoe. 

We visited the Florida RV Supershow in Tampa on the busiest day of the show, and let me tell you, WOW!  But the real reason for visiting Clearwater was to visit my brother Mike and his wife Jen. This was a bitter-sweet yet very healing visit for me. We then had our 2nd one-night stop over on the trip. We are loving the slower pace. 

We spent a few days visiting the oldest city in the United States St. Augustine Florida.We learned (and share) a few things about this city. We saw the Oldest Wooden Schoolhouse, St John the Baptist Church , Flagler College (and went on a fantastic tour of it). The Shrine of Our Lady La Leche and Castillo de San Marcos Fort.After we left the East Coast of Florida we then we went to the BEST campground we have ever been to (Trimble Park) !!!  And why are we there????    We visited Walt Disney word and Epcot !!!!!

We spent another day in Charleston and saw a Emancipation Celebration Parade. Then we visited a Tea Plantation, a huge Live Oak tree, a Distillery and a Winery near Charleston.  Then off to Jekyll Island, St Simons island and Savannah Georgia.Here are links to the pictures of the Angel Oak Tree the Charleston Tea Plantation, Wormsloe, Firefly Distillery and Deep Water Vineyard. And we visited Savannah Georgia and Jekyll Island and St Simons Island. 

Visited the beautiful and historic city of Wilmington North Carolina and the temp was 75 degrees fahrenheit !!! Saw a fantastic sunset on Holden Beach. Enjoyed time with 2 of my old coworkers and friends Kim and Kathy. Spent time in Myrtle Beach and Conway. Then headed south with the rig to Charleston South Carolina.

We left Assateague and stayed at a Harvest Host in Melfa Virginia. We then went south to the Outer Banks (OBX) in North Carolina, driving over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. While in OBX we visited Kitty Hawk, drove on a beach and ate some fantastic tuna. We stopped at the Jarvisburg Colored School. Then off to Burgaw.

We finally left our stone and mortar home for our Southeast 2019 trip. We didn't get out of our driveway before the problems started, Then our 1st night out ... NO 110v in the rig !!!!! Ugh. This may be a trip ender. We stayed in Barnegat NJ, visited the "Christmas Vacation House in Mickleton NJ. Then off to Chesapeake MD. Afterwards we drove down to Assateague MD to see the wild ponies and went over to Ocean City MD.

House is set.  Rig is packed.  Might as well get the road and travel to warmer climes for the winter.

We arrived home from our 2019 Northeast trip. We were gone for 4 months and traveled 6,000 miles. In this episode I talk about how many nights we stayed at various types of places (Harvest Hosts, Campgrounds and Boondockers Welcome). Made some improvements to the rig. 

We were pleasantly surprised with the service at Thor!!!We then headed east to Ohio. Then onto Pennsylvania and upstate NY. We found some great towns, a casino, great beer and wineries.This is the end of our Northeast 2019 trip. With over 6,000 miles of memories and problems, it was wonderful!!!!!

We climbed Sleeping Bear Dunes which were so much fun !!!! We then visited Frankfort, Manistee, Douglas and Saugatuck Michigan; all great towns. Douglas has an adaptive canoe/kayak launch, which was very cool. Then we drove south to Indiana and for the 2nd time we got the rig fixed at Thor in Wakarusa Indiana.

We went through another border crossing, then discovered Erie Pennsylvania, Northern Ohio and visited a Christmas Story House (where The Christmas Story movie was filmed) ep it does exist (https://www.achristmasstoryhouse.com/).We visited a great butcher shop (http://www.gibbsbutcherblock.com/), spent time with our friends in Grayling Michigan (https://www.markspigroasting.com/), We kayaked 13 miles on the AuSable River and learned about "The toughest spectator sport" that happens every year in Grayling. From there we visited Traverse City.So what do you do to help MANAGE your STRESS? Perhaps you or someone you know would benefit from listening to Stress Management Exercises? I have 3 FREE Stress Management recordings at https://relaxrv.org/help/If that ain't your thing, I have DISCOUNTS on my website to various RV related stuff.https://relaxrv.org/discounts/ I’ve made some videos about improvements and fixes I’ve done to the RV. Here’s a link to them on YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzwH6GhSMBDJ7q

So, we fell in love with Montreal, paddled through a lock near Kingston Ont, enjoyed a sunset dinner cruise through the 1000 islands. And then re-visited Port Dalhousie and Niagara Falls. And after 2 and a half months in Canada; visiting 5 provinces (New Brunswick, PEI, Nova Scotia, Quebec and Ontario) it is time to return to the US.We developed a water leak and considered cutting the trip short.

We met wonderful people, ate phenomenal food and saw fantastic places in this episode.We found New France, warm waters and snuck in a breakfast with our friends Patty and Andrew before leaving Nova Scotia. We then traveled back into New Brunswick for a week or so before heading to Quebec. And after 2+ months we left the Atlantic time zone.

We had a family emergency back in NY and needed to leave the rig in Nova Scotia for almost 2 weeks. Then a few days after we returned to our home away from home, we got locked out of the rig when our lock failed. Which is pretty common.